I look straight ahead until I reach the exit, then I check over my shoulder. The demon hasn’t moved an inch, his focus still on the fighters. I relax, confident he’s not after anything that’s mine. Uppers thrive on seedy shit, so I shouldn’t be surprised to finally run into one at a place like this.
I’m about to turn back when a pissed off woman breaks through the horde of dudes. I pretend not to notice her and push out the door. Kai’s still my priority. With all of these humans around, I can’t just drop to get away from her, so she easily catches up.
“Hey,” Nyx says once we reach the stairwell.
“Hi,” I deadpan, but I don’t look at her.
She follows me into the hallway Kai went down earlier. They’ve held fights here a few times, and the fighters hole up in the out-of-commission break room toward the end. Even if he’s not on the Upper’s radar, I want him as far away as possible.
She marches fast to keep up with me. “What happened back there, it was—”
“Nothing happened.” I spin before we reach the only open door in the hallway.
Nyx barely stops short of running into me. Her mouth’s open, undoubtedly ready to argue, but my palms are already glowing by the time they cup her cheeks. She takes a quick intake of air, and I realize she thinks I’m going to kiss her. Not at all my plan. Until she grabs the front of my shirt like she wants me to.
And then I fucking lose my mind.
I step into her, the light cutting off from my hands as my lips crush hers. The moment crashes over me, her pulling at me to get closer and every molecule of me wanting to give her exactly that. But as rapid as the onset of my insanity, I recover from it just as fast.
My mouth leaves hers—her face already warm and a dreamy look in her eyes when they flutter open.
“Nothing happened,” I tell her, my voice calm. “I asked about your tattoo, a guy pushed you into me, and I caught you so you wouldn’t end up on the dirty floor.”
She nods. “Thank you.”
I half-smile. “The crowd was getting rough, so we came down here to find Kai. We didn’t talk or even look at each other.” I pause, letting her mind fill with new memories. “Now, we’re going to get him and leave because you aren’t feeling well.”
“I don’t want to be here,” she says.
“Let’s get out of here then.” I release her, not even waiting for her to come out of the daze to turn around.
Charge. Light. Home.
Not mortal-chick anything.
The room is rowdier tonight. More drunk guys and yelling, and for whatever fucking reason, Nyx insists on being closer to the ring. It feels familiar from the get-go. The hotel, her skirt, how she looks over her shoulder to see me. Dark lashes fan over her molten eyes, my hand on the back of her neck.
“The Ouroboros,” she says.
This time, when she falls back into me, I don’t hesitate to tip her chin up. I graze my lips over hers and then nudge her face to the side, my mouth moving down. My tongue drags over her neck. I taste the salt on her skin, feel her palm sliding up the front of my thigh.
A groan escapes when I rip my mouth away from her. The demon watches from across the room, his red glare staying on me this time. I should get Kai, but Nyx feels exactly like I remembered.
I lower my attention back to her before I turn us around. We push through the men, their gazes raking over her. Once we clear the crowd, I let her go. She glances over her shoulder to make sure I’m following her to the stairwell. And fuck me, I am.
The cool air hits us when she rushes through the door. By the time it bangs shut, I have her in the shadows under the stairs, pushing her back up the wall.
“Fuck, I want you,” I rasp, my palms on her ass.
Her legs wrap around my waist, and she pulls my mouth to hers. Our tongues are already tangled when our lips collide, teeth clashing right after. She tastes like sin, forbidden. I thrust forward, my erection rubbing against her, and she moans the sweetest fucking sound. She’s not Kai’s—never was. She’s never let him touch her like this. Feel her like this.
Nyx is mine.
My lips stay on hers while I look over at Kai. Blood pools around him on the floor, darkness seeping out of his chest where the demon hit him with a fireball. The shadows swirl around him, and I can’t feel the light anymore. All that’s left is her, overwhelming my senses, pumping through my veins.
Nyx moans, rolling her hips, and I grind against her again.
“You should get that,” she mumbles into my mouth.
It only takes a second for me to figure out what she means, but I’m not finished claiming her yet. One of my hands creeps up her shirt, pushing her bra out of the way. As I cup her breast, her heart races. It matches the faint pounding that keeps trying to interrupt.
“Chaz,” she says. Then, after a few more seconds, “Chazaqiel.”
The sound of my full name makes me pull back to see her. “Sorry, gorgeous. I need to answer the fucking door.”
I wake up in my living room. No Nyx. No concrete steps overhead. The only thing that is the same between the dream and reality is my raging hard-on. I’m still on the couch, where I crashed after a drunk Kai stumbled back to his apartment and passed out.
The knocking grows louder as I rub the heels of my hands into my eye sockets and maneuver through my dark apartment. Dark because it’s two in the goddamn morning.
Skipping the door, I head straight to my kitchen. I flip on a light and pull the blocker bag out of the cupboard, so I can take out a crystal and disengage the heavenly security system.
“It’s open,” I say.
Rosdan blows in. This time, he at least shuts the door. Without a word, I hand him the amulet. Then I crash back down on the couch, because I really prefer my brother not notice my dick through my sweatpants right now.
“How are you here?” I ask.
“I scared the shit out of Mark and then suggested he use the treadmill until I get back.” He studies the amulet, running his fingers along the edge of the gold back casing. “I was helping Alistair with his homework the other day.”
Ros thought it would be a brilliant idea to nanny for his charges. A ten-year-old with a Cass obsession and two-year-old triplets—two boys and a girl.
“He’s working on a report,” he says. “The Sword in the Stone.”
“You tell him it’s all bullshit?”
I get a sideways glance for that.
Little about the stories humans have passed around about the sword is how it really went down. Hell, it wasn’t even in England, like most people think. Some hermit in Italy looked out his window at the right moment and caught an angel all lit up with his wings spread. It was Michael—a complete dick, by the way, who wouldn’t protect a human if his existence depended on it. The guy marked the spot with a sword. Funny thing about an angel drop spot, the light affects the ground. So, the sword stayed, unmovable, until a Nephilim wandered by and yanked it out. Nephilim blood. Never know when it will come in handy.